But it’s capitalized-M Muslims who inevitably make the news, or feature in government debates and sternly worded op-eds. Capitalized-M Muslims feed the whole “clash of civilizations” myth, with its claim that Islam and the West are two airtight systems. For those who hold with such a notion, the two are mutually exclusive; for extremists on both sides, “the Islamic world” and “the West” are straining toward each other’s destruction.
